NO SEX, VIOLENCE OR STARS, YET #1: 'Twilight' Opens With $35.7M Friday
UPDATE: I'm told Summit Entertainment to contain costs is considering making sequels #2 and #3 back to back like some other franchises, i.e. Lord Of The Rings, the upcoming Hobbit. The start-up studio announced today that it's officially moving forward with the production of New Moon, the second installment of its filmed franchise vampire love story Twilight which took the biggest bite out of this weekend's box office for No. 1. But Summit said nothing about #3 in the series, Eclipse. (I first reported this on October 13th, Summit Readying 'Twilight' Sequel.) The follow-up will be based on the second novel in author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series titled, New Moon. "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment," Stephenie Meyer said in the press release. "I'm thrilled to have the chance to work with them again on New Moon." The enormous success of Twilight in theaters this weekend is a defining moment for start-up studio Summit, which had struggled with its early produce. Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart issued a formal "thank you" to fans for their box office support making it the No. 1 movie this weekend and also announced the sequel as well:
I’m stunned. It’s Friday gross was larger than what I thought the gross for the entire weekend would be.
I still think this movie is heavily front-loaded, but the Twilight fans do have a point. When it’s pulling in this much cash on its first weekend, who cares how much it drops next week? Certainly not the distributor since they get most of the total gross this week.
Comment by Harold — November 22, 2008 @ 11:08 am
I think this will have some legs. There are tons of girls who are going to be having Twilight Movie Birthdays parties. Like Titanic, this will turn into a thing about how many times you saw it. There will also be a second wave of people who want to see what the fuss is about.
Twilight did Thursday and Friday nights what Valkyrie will probably do total.
Comment by realworldperson — November 22, 2008 @ 11:37 am
Wow, that was quick, even for studio standards. Usually when a film hits it big, the studio usually waits until after the opening weekend to announce a sequel (a la Sony and Paramount).
I guess the fact that “Twilight” made back most of its production costs on opening day accelerated Summit’s decision to move on with the sequel. Regardless of whether “Twilight” will have a big second weekend drop, it’s already made more than enough to add to Summit’s coffers.
Comment by Matt C — November 22, 2008 @ 11:38 am
Kay so i loved this movie
true i was a crazy fan of the books but i think the movie was fabulous!
even though some of the special effects were left desirable. the acting and performance was top notch.
i think anyone would enjoy this movie as it shows the ins and outs of relationships not just between a man and a woman but a father and a daughter, etc. It also has that element of action and it truly is a must see.
please go see twilight you will not be dissapointed!!!
Im so glad there making New Moon, i think its well deserved and cannot wait to see it!
Comment by ZZZZZZZZZ — November 22, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
I don’t think there will be much of a drop off . This is just the start . The girls will go back again and again, it’s the teenage phenomena of the decade!
Comment by Caroline — November 22, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
The movie was amazingly well done. From 1-100 it’s definitely a 98. We’re going back to see it again.
Cast- Perfectly picked
Direction- Great
Acting- Great
Story- Great
The only thing I hope changes in the next one, is that that the key killings shouldn’t be so flat and short. You guys really kept us wrapped up in the suspense of the romance throughout the entire movie. However, when it came to the key killing of the most extraordinary tracker, it was both short and flat. It too needed the same energy and suspense that was created with the love story.
I hate to say this too, but we could have used another 15 to 30 minutes of back story that developed some of the negative characters. Maybe that back story would’ve helped us to understand their world a little more. Come to think of it, it would be nice to have a little more back story on the father vampire. Something more that explained how he became the good vampire.
Something must have changed his mindset. Obviously “the venom”, must have initially had a detrimental effect on his character. Therefore something must have caused him to place a greater value on life. After all, he did save his wife from dieing too. The next question that should be answered is who bit the father, and did the father defy the vampire code of ethics by resorting to animal blood instead of human killings. Also, what’s happening throughout the world? Are there werewolfs, and other good and bad beings out in the world.
Overall, we loved the movie enough to want to go back and see it again. It did leave a lot of questions with regard to character clan decisions, and their respective origins. Other than that, we (THE AUDIENCE) are desperately awaiting the next one.
Oh, the audience was eating it up alive. I overheard many people asking about when the next one was going to be released. In fact it gave me an idea. An idea that I don’t think has ever been played out on the big screen. You guys should literally start the first monthly, bimonthly, trimonthly BIG SCREEN SERIES.
Harry Potter was great, but really it flattened out, and the only reason that many of us decide to see it now, is because we want to see it end. We need to see why Harry Potter is the CHOSEN ONE. Actually we’d like to see Harry Potter end in a very nice open way. They can revisit his life in 10 or 30 years when he has a Harry Jr.
On the other hand Twilight, has captured us in a very thought provoking manner. It’s the perfect twist on Dracula. It’s like watching the Shield, or X-Files. We’re hoping that each episode (150 min) keeps us locked up on the screen following both character and story as it unfolds in it’s own romantic way. We think that it’s the best movie to hit the box office in quite a while. We also think that it’s as good or better than the last reinventing of Batman, Hulk, Spiderman, and others.
WE LIKE IT, WE LOVE IT, WE WANT MORE OF IT!
Keep the LOOK, ENERGY, STORY, with more SUSPENSE, and greater CHARACTER BACK STORY.
WE’RE TIRED OF SEEING COPY CAT FLICKS. WE’RE TIRED OF THE CONSTANT RETELLING OF THE SAME OLD STORIES.
WE DON’T WANT IT ON THE TUBE FIRST, WE WANT IT ON THE SCREEN FIRST.
ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW. AMERICA, AND THE WORLD NEED SOMETHING TO LIFT US OUT OF OUR ECONOMIC TIMES. SOMETHING TO GET US OUT OF THE HOUSE, SO WE CAN VISUALLY EXPERIENCE LIFE THROUGH ANOTHER.
IT’S THE 21st CENTURY, so we should be thinking about questions and answers. We should have movies that destroy the barriers around us. Writers should be offering us something new. Remember “The Matrix” the “Red, or Blue Pill”, Neo chose TRUTH despite the obstacles, because he could make a difference. Well, the audience is Neo, and we choose truth too. We want want to see the wolf instead of the sheeps clothing over it. We want the truth to be known.
I’m surprised that nobody is writing a script based on our “Lady of Lourdes”, especially with 2012 coming around the corner. We need to know what was told to the Pope, about our upcoming doom. We should see lots of fresh ideas about this.
Upcoming movies that we’re really looking forward to seeing are:
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” It looks like it’s the answer to the first one. A perfect sequel with another fresh spin.
“The Transformer”- This guys is just a great actor and the action of his flicks mixed in with character are perfect.
“XXX (3)” Vin Diesel “There can be only one” Need I say more.
“FOUR CHRISTMASES” We all love Vince Vaughn, and our ANNUAL CHRISTMAS FLICK. It’s a tradition.
“Punisher: WAR ZONE” We love Marvel, and love when the bad are punished. Maybe we should be punishing all those who are gift wrapped and responsible for our economic problems. (AIG) The public wants to punish those whom have done us a disservice, and we too believe “This is just the beginning”.
“The Tale of Despereaux” He innocently enough always takes a chance. We love ideas that revolve around taking chances. We need themes like this right now.
We need flicks that revolve around the unknown. The unknown parallels itself both with ? 2012 ?, Disclosure, Supernatural powers. Hell we need a movie that allows the bad guy to actually win in a good way. The bad guy who takes chances despite the obstacles that are against him.
Derrick
Comment by DRR — November 22, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Go Catherine Hardwicke!
She has changed the game.
Like Nikki said, “NO SEX, VIOLENCE OR STARS, YET #1″
That’s not just the studio, that’s the DIRECTOR.
Can’t wait to see the final tally.
Comment by dba — November 22, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
If this isn’t evidence that there is no God, I don’t know what is.
Comment by Orangutan — November 22, 2008 @ 3:39 pm
What a class act Kristen and Rob are. That was a very heartfelt thank you. Congratulations to Summit for taking a chance on this project and keeping the spirit of the book. The fans of the series gave you a big reward for that this weekend. I look forward to the sequels and hope that they don’t take forever to make it to the big screen like the Harry Potter films. Everyone involved in the making of Twilight did a wonderful job!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU. (BTW it is NOT only teen girls that are attracted to this story.)
Comment by A Twilight mom — November 22, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
everyone needs to give a big thanks to the person who originally found the books, and is surprisingly left out of all the news reports, Greg Mooradian…..
Comment by whatever — November 22, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
There will only be sequels for Robert and Kristen to make money off so long as their producers don’t go out of business thanks to Robert and Kristen’s uppity union.
Comment by Francine Fishpaw — November 22, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
@ DRR:
What the hell are you smoking? What you said made no sense at all, particularly the last couple dozen of paragraphs. And since when does “Twilight” merit comparison to “The Shield” and “The X-Files” (the only “Twilight” has in common with XF is that “Bad Blood” had vampires in it)?
“Twilight” is a tired formula, one that Anne Rice perfected and Meyer presented a sanitized, boring variation on that. And if I want a human/vampire romance done right, I’d rather watch any episode from the first three seasons of Buffy.
Comment by Matt C — November 22, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
@DRR
I’m a huge fan of the books. Yes it is a sanitized version of other vampire stories. No fangs, seriously?
I didn’t hate the movie, but I was disappointed overall at the direction and production value.
The questions you have about the characters in Twilight are answered in the book. Everyone who read the books got the little jokes, knew why Edward struggled with his feelings, understood the importance of the music, his being in her room at night, her friendships, her relationship with her father - none of which was explained very well in the movie.
The movie should have answered those questions for the viewers. I thought the production value… wasn’t great - the casting was pretty good but not true to the characters as Stephanie Meyers wrote them and the person scouting the locations should be more concerned with finding or creating settings that match the descriptions in the book. I kept getting the impression that in trying to keep it within budget, decision makers would look at it and say…”yeah, that’ll do” instead of…”WOW, this is perfect.”
I know movies typically don’t come across as well as the books that inspire them, but with the success of the Harry Potter books’ transition to film, I think we have come to expect that our imaginations will be enhanced by the quality of the production, instead of our imaginations having to fill in the gaps left by the production. The fans of the movie, who never read the book are left with many unanswered questions. While the fans of the books are left wondering why the important character building back stories were left out.
I sincerely hope the next effort has a bigger budget, integrity with regard to this charming love story and better overall quality.
Comment by Jen C — November 23, 2008 @ 5:34 am
while congratulations are flowing as freely as blood in a vampire movie… there’s something strangely (and not surprisingly) missing: the screenwriter. the person who took stephanie meyer’s book and translated it into the unique language of the silver screen. melissa rosenberg should be acknowledged for her hard work, talent and voice. oh, and btw, she wrote the just-announced sequel as well.
Comment by cp in ct — November 23, 2008 @ 9:09 am
I just wanted to say that im a 35 year old mom and i really loved the movie! There were a few elements i think should have been addressed,like the bio scene where Bella passes uot from smelling blood. No normal person should be able to describe it the way she did. That there shouldve told you that Bella is special even before her transformation in Breaking Dawn.I would also like to see a little more of Edward and Bella in embraces so the audiance can really get a feel of the electricity between the two of them.I also wouldve liked to have one of them sat I LOVE YOU to each other instead of Bella voicing that she was in love with Edward.I cant wait for New Moon to come out and see how the other characters come into play as far as their backround stories? And Stephanie if yuo read any of these, PLEASE finish Midnight Sun and publish it so we can really get the full feelings and struggle of Edwards character!
Comment by Amanda35 — November 26, 2008 @ 7:19 am
The movie was pretty good. I can’t wait to see the next movie. I think that if the Acters and Actrees were to read the book it would even be a better movie. Good luck with the next movie.
Comment by Karrie — December 8, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
ahh! i loved this movie soo much! i also am a comlete total fan of the twilight saga! ahh. cant wait til new moon comes out in theatres oh and eclipse. i hope they do the back-to-back thing! ahhh. i want to buy Twilight already on DVD! cant wait!
with love,
duffy claire <3
Comment by Duffy Claire — December 9, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
im 45 and i love this movie. id never heard of the books or the movie until my sisters and niece were talking about going to see the movie a couple of days before it opened.in the past 2 weeks ive seen the movie 7 times and plan to see it more. this past week i also read all 4 books. they are excellent. i look forward to Full Moon. i also truly hope they make a movie from the Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I felt Twilight and Breaking Dawn were the best. so Summit pleaseeeee make all 4 movies. i would go and see them all and as soon as the dvds come out ill get them too. you must keep the present cast members they played their characters very well, esp rob pattinson (makes me wish i was 22 again) and kristen stewart. they had great chemistry together.also all of the cast that played the cullen family and charlie. i hope summit ent listens to the majority of these comments. i know several people where i work and my friends have gone and seen the movie because how much i like it and theyve enjoyed it too. I’ll keep it up if summit will too!!
Comment by DEBBIE — December 10, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
I saw the movie, and while I think the movie was good, I am excited to see about New Moon next year. Then, the prospect of Eclipse…what a thrill (to me at least)! But, I am a bit disappointed that Hardwicke will not be along for the ride; I do hope a female director. Then, why would Summit want to say bye-bye to Taylor Lautner????
Comment by Allison — December 11, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
Please recast for the roll of Bella.
Comment by Tiff — December 16, 2008 @ 4:31 pm